In Manga
by MS
Summary: AU, SxS... Manga stories were nothing like real life. Or was it? Although Sakura tries to think otherwise, her introspection might just prove her wrong. Syaoran might also have a few things to say. One-Shot


MS

Well, this is not to be taken seriously. But then, this is a peeve that I have against manga that just keeps going on and on and never resolves any issues whatsoever. Why does it seem like most characters are morons and everyone decides to keep quiet. Also, this is an AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the CCS characters.

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**In Manga... **

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It really was very simple. Sakura just shook her head as she continued to plow onto the unread pages of a shoujo manga one of her friends had given her. It was highly recommended but she really couldn't see the appeal to it. It was just so circular, whatever was actually happening either went up a few steps and then regressed. How could anyone find this amusing?

"Tomoyo," she called to her friend as she passed her by. She complied, wondering what Sakura needed.

"I don't understand this," she shook her head as she pointed to a particular page. "What the heck just happened?"

"It's the usual plot device on a manga," Tomoyo explained as she looked at the scene. There was an abrupt drawing of a heart beat while a particular boy stared at the girl that was shouting at him. It was supposed to be dramatic, she was sure.

"They've just introduced a new love interest," Tomoyo shrugged it off and tried to walk away to only have Sakura stop her again.

"Wait!" it was definitely abrupt in nature. "But the girl is in love with someone else."

Sakura couldn't read Tomoyo's snort as she rolled her eyes. "And the guy is in love with her!"

Her other friends came to join them, wondering what the discussion was all about. Just catching little bits and pieces of the comments. "What's going on?" Chiharu asked, looking at the manga that Sakura was holding in her hands.

"I'm trying to explain the concept of shoujo manga to her. Sakura hasn't really been exposed to many of these and I think she's getting a bit lost on what this type of manga actually does," Sakura grumbled beneath her breath as a light blush appeared on her cheeks. Tomoyo was clearly enjoying herself as a big grin spread over her face.

She was like a cat, about to devour her favorite meal, as her eyes twinkled in mischief. Sakura froze, her body reacting to something she was very much aware of.

The thirteen year old only reacted this way when a particular person was coming close to her. It was an automatic reaction that alerted her brain and managed to banish her thoughts. It was nice to have Tomoyo around for these little scenes.

"Was there a meeting that someone forgot to tell us?" Eriol's jovial tone emerged from her side, followed by a low rumble of laughter and snickers as he smiled quite openly.

"No," Tomoyo stood, brandishing a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "We're just trying to explain something. Maybe you guys can help us with your great intellect."

"Fire away," Eriol confidently said as he bumped shoulders with Syaoran, who kept silent beside them.

"I believe that Sakura is going through a bit of a problem," she inwardly chuckled as that got Syaoran's attention. Everyone looked at Sakura, who blushed at all the attention, and silently berated herself from being put on the spot. Especially with Syaoran around. For the past few weeks, she'd been saying the completely wrong things whenever he was involved. There had to be a way to calm that compulsion of hers. Maybe it would pass in its own accord. She certainly hoped it would.

Tomoyo nudged her, silently with her eyes as well as well as audibly when the silence stretched too far. She decided to start things along.

"Well, Sakura has been reading a shoujo manga. You all know what that is, right?"Her inquiry was met with nods and knowing grins from both sides of the sexes.

"The problem is that Sakura doesn't really have much experience with it," Sakura didn't know if anyone could get any type of insinuation, but she really didn't like that comment.

"And what's the problem?" Eriol turned to Sakura, giving her his upmost attention and silently ordering her to continue on.

"The problem isn't really a problem," she tried to laugh it away before getting to the crux of said 'problem'. Why had Tomoyo called it that? If she was going to be put on the spot, then she might as well get a rational discussion out of it. But, how would it happen if she couldn't even take this seriously?

"I'd just like to know why I've just read ten volumes of a manga, with around fifty six chapters of a story that seems to have no ending. The whole time it's been with a setup of characters and the boy who obviously likes the main girl and then the girl falling in love with the guy and nothing has happened."

She waited in silence, as if expecting some sound argument as to why she is seemingly not wasting her time. She was just met with knowing smiles and grim understanding. "And that was just established on the first two volumes."

"You're wondering why they don't just up get together and get it over with," Chiharu nodded in commiseration as to her feeling. "It's never that simple."

"I've read this particular manga," Tomoyo sighed before placing a hand on her shoulder and patted it. "It just gets to the point that it seems like things are going to get resolved and then other characters are introduced and a love triangle forms."

"But it has no basis in reality!" Sakura couldn't help but feel like taking it personally. "Why couldn't they just admit how they feel for each other?"

Tomoyo wanted to cackle, but was able to stop her expression from changing as Eriol and her shared a silent thought. Their glances were but a fraction of a second, but it was enough. He drove his elbow deep into Syaoran's side, making him cough in response, and earning Sakura's attention.

He froze at her expectant gaze, not knowing what to do. Eriol's turning head and mannerisms over Sakura were definitely trying to get him to open his mouth and contribute to the conversation.

"I think this happens because they want to keep the manga going," Sakura reasoned.

"It's not that easy," Syaoran's voice was low and barely heard by them all.

"What?"

"I think the writer is just exploiting a facet of human relationships that is very prevalent. It's not easy to come up to someone and say that you like them."

He spoke while looking directly at her, his voice dimming bit by bit as he neared the end of the sentence. His mouth was opened, but he could not utter another word. He had gotten inexplicably close to her. Maybe it was the mood that suddenly surrounded him, but he was beside her, at eye level with her.

"But," she looked to him. "It's not hard to figure out that if you blush, if you get excited, or if your heart bursts erratically while in the presence..." her words ran out, as she got caught in a mesmerizing, and time still moment.

Everyone else stood lifeless around them, holding their breaths as they waited for the moment to break and disappear.

"It's not that easy," his whispered pronouncement made her drop her eyes to the cover art of the particular volume.

"I don't think I'm going to like shoujo manga," Sakura despondently remarked, taking a deep breath and trying to get herself out of this spell that she had fallen into minutes before.

"It just doesn't feel like it's something a normal person could put up with," Sakura smiled grimly as she set the book down on her desk. She felt compelled to talk. Maybe it was the nervousness of having them all around her, crowding and boxing her in.

"Come on class!" their teacher called from the front as the warning tone rung above their heads.

Everyone smiled and walked to their seats as their math teacher started to write on the blackboard. Class was about to start.

If anyone asked what they did for that full hour, Syaoran would not have been able to answer. Something to do with formulas or such. It was a good thing that he was good at mathematics, and his good standing in the subject saved him from a detention since the teacher had been watching his inattention throughout the whole class period but had decided to not comment on it.

He was relieved when the bell rang and they all stood to bow as he left the room. He was then herded to Sakura's seat by his friend, Eriol, who stood beside him with a huge smile.

"We have to get to practice right now," Chiharu was grabbed by an overzealous Tomoyo, and was then dragged to choir practice.

All other students were filing out of the class, muttering their good byes. Inexplicably for them both, they found they were alone as everyone else deserted the classroom to leave them to their duties. Of course, not before Eriol had nearly tripped him and making him nearly falling over his face and strike his head against the corner of a desk. He didn't really know what he was trying to do, but that just garnered a black look from Syaoran.

Sakura muttered something under her breath as she cleared the board after she had made sure that he hadn't suffered some real damage. He had a suspicion it had something to do with the prodding that Eriol did to her as he was leaving the room.

Syaoran was sure that he and Sakura were about to commit some real damage and if they joined forces, then Eriol had no way to escape. It was tempting, but not something that he would actually follow through. Of course, that was if Sakura didn't offer. If she did, then it would have been a different ball game.

Sakura looked his way, cranking an eyebrow as she heard a chuckle coming from his side. She was used to seeing him this way. He was smiling at nothing, but it looked like he was smiling at her. Or at least, he was smiling with her. She couldn't help but smile at him, with a broom in his hand.

She really didn't know what she was supposed to feel. For some reason, she just hear the word domesticated in her mind. That almost had her guffawing. She didn't though. It was just one of those inconsistent musings that always came and went.

"Why are you smiling?" he had to ask her. Syaoran had caught her upturned lips, her teeth flashing as a hand covered her mouth from sight as she turned. There was no way he would miss it though.

This just really made it clear to him. Why was it that when they read something in a manga, it would just seem to stupid that the characters seemed to run around one another but you could really draw parallels in your own lives. That's what had him thinking since she had posed her question. Something that looked completely outrageous and unbelievable on paper when one say it, was that particular something that you couldn't face in your own life.

"No particular reason," her reply only had her turning so that she could bite her lips so that he wouldn't see her.

"Come on," he prodded. After all, she was his friend and he was very much interested in keeping this familiar and comfortable atmosphere. They were friends. And if he sometimes wondered what it would feel like to run his hand through the side of her face while her eyes were closed, then that just meant that he wasn't blind to her qualities.

But then, he wasn't in a rich private school with the best connections to offer. He wasn't in a world where he was the top of the class, or most popular, or even the most liked guy around his grade. He wasn't under the scrutiny of a dynasty or such that would place him in situations that would make his life interesting beyond the fact that he just needed to keep going each and every day.

He was just Syaoran. He had his friends with whom he laughed and played and cherished every morning. He had his sport to enjoy and his school work to dread. He was just a normal guy... who sometimes had dreams that made no sense.

But then, he was the normal guy in the current times. "Now I want to know why you're smiling," she interrupted his rampant thoughts. They had run away from him and she was now standing in front of him, her arms crossed over her stomach as she stared at him. She had to tilt her head up just a bit, because he was just distinctly taller than her.

That made him think of their heights. He really couldn't concentrate on anything. What did she think of when she had to tilt her head back a bit to look square into his face? This bordered on stupidity. He could admit it.

"You really have been spacing out a lot lately," she sounded a bit concerned, her hand reaching upwards to touch his face. That seemed like the only way to keep him in the conversation. "What are you thinking about?"

"Something very stupid," for some reason, he blurted out the truth of what was going on in his head. That was something that you were never supposed to do when you were in his position. Really, you weren't supposed to do that unless you wanted to appear like a moron.

Well, this was his day. She was looking at him, expecting him to continue. He was not going to be able to wrangle himself out of this one. Her curiosity had been spiked and if he knew something about Sakura, it was the fact that she was not going to let this go.

Why exactly did he find that adorable?! He really didn't know how he was supposed to take that. His own thoughts were driving him insane. What the heck was wrong with him?

That was precisely her own question. "What's wrong with you?" her questions just kept a constant barrage that he couldn't even try to get a word in edgewise. She was concerned, her hand on his forehead and mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like fever.

She was tugging at him, but he wasn't budging. It was after she rounded her eyes and meaningfully stared at him while her hands were on his shoulders that he got the hint. He did as she silently asked and found himself in a position he had never thought of.

"Your temperature seems fine," she muttered more to herself than him as their foreheads lay together. Her nose was right there, the tip against his nose, brushing as she kept leaning to him. Her mouth was right there by his own.

"You know, I never thought I'd say this to you but Sakura," she looked up at him, the seriousness of his expression catching her unawares of the fact that he only had to shift a bit before he pressed his lips to hers. Definitely something she was not expecting at that moment.

It was just a flicker of sensation.

He pulled away rather quickly, putting distance between them. Sakura's eyes blinked as she just looked after him. She had the urge to touch her mouth, running her fingers through her lips to make sure that she had definitely not made whatever had just happened up.

"I'm sorry," it felt like a pathetic excuse. At least, that's what he had to keep telling himself as her expression didn't change. "It's actually kind of funny," he laughed while walking backwards even more. Each step made her want to take one forward. She was sure that he would bolt though.

It was actually kind of cute. She was able to control herself as the urge to laugh spread over her. If she did indeed laugh, then he might take it the wrong way. They were in a position that anything could happen.

"Syaoran," she only had to say his name for him to drive a hand through his hair. It was his telling sign. Something that she had learned for all the years that she knew him was that he did that when he was extremely nervous, or extremely mad at himself. It was probably both in this instance.

"You were just talking a couple of hours ago about a couple of students, in a manga of course, that just never seemed to do anything about the fact that they like each other and here I am."

"Here you are," she felt stupid, repeating that. But, what else was she supposed to say.

"I think I was supposed to ask you out on a date before taking a kiss," he admitted as his hand kept mangling his scalp.

He wasn't looking at her at all. When she finally got him to look straight into her eyes, she saw the hesitation. "I've liked you for the longest time Sakura."

Even the way that he said her name had changed. Or so it felt to her hearing. Maybe it had always been that way and she hadn't noticed. What else hadn't she noticed? She knew her friends thought her oblivious to various things, but she would have thought that she could have interpreted the way that sometimes he looked at her.

It was the same way that she had been starting to look at him. Well, at least it was nice to know that they were both clueless in that sphere.

He'd taken one step. It was probably her own time to catch up to it. "I've had this feeling lately," she knew she was phrasing it wrong. But then, maybe she just needed to do in part as well.

With just a bit of encouraging words to herself she walked up to him, her hands to her side and stopped just before him. If he could do it, then so could she. She only had to stand on her toes for a bit before placing her lips on his.

She closed her eyes. Whatever happened would.

It didn't take more incentive to have him reciprocate. She could feel the weight of his lips on hers as he bent his head slightly so that she didn't have to balance herself anymore. He anchored her body with his arms around her waist, pulling their lower bodies closer and making them much warmer than they needed to be.

It was bliss.

"I believe there's been a wager about us," the topic really drew her back. "Our friends. They've been trying to figure out when we'd actually get over this stalemate and just go with the situation to admit it."

"We should have done it much sooner," was her reply. Her beaming smile was magical. He took the hint in her eyes, coming down to her once again. Who cared if they were supposed to be sweeping and organizing the room. They could be late to their activities by a few minutes.

Their covert glances as they continued minutes later held a promise in their curved smiles.

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Cheesy and really without plot. I had to write it though, it wouldn't leave me alone. Wow, 3 one shots done in the span of one day. I'm glad I'm finishing projects I've left on the wayside since it means I can post more things for you guys.

How about you guys reward me with comments? Reviews? ::hint, hint:: :P

MS

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